My mission is to educate people about what is in our food. Food ingredient labels can be confusing, and hard to figure out what all those ingredients are. No judgements, no suggestions on what to eat, just cold hard facts about what is in our food, what it does. I plan to compile ingredients lists from national food. And find definitions of the ingredients that are hard to say, let alone, figure out what it is exactly.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Vanillin

Vanillin is the largest flavor component of the vanilla bean. It can also be synthesized . The synthetic is identical to the natural vanillin, but much less expensive. Vanilla extract contains vanilla and many other flavor components, which make the flavor more interesting.

Natural Vanillin is processed by: First, the seed pods are blanched in hot water, to arrest the processes of the living plant tissues. Then, for 1–2 weeks, the pods are alternately sunned and sweated: during the day, they are laid out in the sun, and each night, wrapped in cloth and packed in airtight boxes to sweat. During this process, the pods become a dark brown, and enzymes in the pod release vanillin as the free molecule. Finally, the pods are dried and further aged for several months, during which time their flavors further develop. Several methods have been described for curing vanilla in days rather than months, although they have not been widely developed in the natural vanilla industry, with its focus on producing a premium product by established methods, rather than on innovations that might alter the product's flavor profile.

In natural extraction, since vanillin is basically the heart of the vanilla bean, is a very potent antioxident showing benefits in even possitive progress towards necrosis (or death of), cervical cancer cells.
Can also be chemically synthesized by: The biosynthesis, (the production of a chemical compound by a living organism), of vanillin is achieved by the conversion of tyrosine into 4-coumaric acid then into ferulic acid and finally into vanillin. Vanillin is then converted into its corresponding glucoseester.

Since synthetic vanillin is derived from wood (and some are aged in oak barrels) those with severe allergies to trees can suffer from an allergy to the flavoring.
But, how can you tell which is which? Especially in pre-made food? Check the ingredients. If the package says it contains “vanillin” or “artificial flavors,” stay away. These most likely contain the synthetic version of vanilla. Keep with packages that state the food was prepare with only natural ingredients.